Diocese of Buffalo v. Buczkowski

Decision Date09 November 1982
Citation90 A.D.2d 994,456 N.Y.S.2d 909
PartiesThe DIOCESE OF BUFFALO, New York, Appellant, The New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Intervening Appellant, v. Helen A. BUCZKOWSKI, et al., Respondents, Eileen DePaolo, Intervening Respondent.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Kennedy & Stoeckl by Kevin Kennedy, Buffalo, for appellant.

Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen., Albany by James L. Kennedy, Buffalo, for intervening appellant.

Joseph P. McNamara, Corp. Counsel by John Naples, Buffalo, for respondents.

Albrecht, Maguire, Heffern & Gregg, P.C. by Bruce Zeftel, Buffalo, for intervening respondent.

Before HANCOCK, J.P., and DOERR, DENMAN, BOOMER and SCHNEPP, JJ.

MEMORANDUM:

Petitioner appeals from the dismissal of its article 78 proceeding brought to review a determination of the Buffalo Zoning Board of Appeals.

Petitioner applied to the Commissioner of Inspections and Licenses for a permit to convert its property at 4 Vermont Street (used until April, 1980 by Buffalo Boys Town, Inc. as a home for delinquent boys) for use as an intermediate care facility for developmentally deprived persons. Petitioner's property is located in the Porter-Busti Area Special Zoning District which was established by the Common Council on November 25, 1980 in adopting an amendment adding a new subdivision 8 to section 15-A of Chapter LXX of the Ordinances of the City of Buffalo. As a non-profit institution, the proposed intermediate care facility would be classified as one of the restricted uses specifically enumerated in subdivision 8(d) of section 15-A. The Commissioner of Inspections and Licenses rejected the application and petitioner appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals. At the hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals, objections were voiced to the jurisdiction of the Zoning Board of Appeals upon the ground that petitioner was "seeking to establish or extend" a use restricted by subdivision 8(d) of section 15-A of Chapter LXX of the Buffalo Zoning ordinances, and that, as directed by subdivision 8(d, f), the application should have been submitted to the Common Council in the first instance. Respondents raised similar jurisdictional objections in their answers to the petition in the article 78 proceeding, but Special Term, in dismissing the petition and confirming the denial by the Zoning Board of Appeals, declined to reach the jurisdictional issue. 112 Misc.2d 336, 446 N.Y.S.2d 1015.

The record shows conclusively that the ...

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3 cases
  • Burlington Assembly of God Church v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment Tp. of Florence
    • United States
    • New Jersey Superior Court
    • April 25, 1989
    ...for developmentally disabled persons, Diocese of Buffalo v. Buczkowski, 112 Misc.2d 336, 446 N.Y.S.2d 1015 (1982), aff'd 90 App.Div.2d 994, 456 N.Y.S.2d 909 (1982); a center for counselling drug users, Slevin v. Long Island Jewish Medical Center, 66 Misc.2d 312, 319 N.Y.S.2d 937 (Sup.Ct.197......
  • Bright Horizon House, Inc. v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Henrietta, Monroe County
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • November 16, 1983
    ...as a place of worship (see Diocese of Buffalo v. Buczkowski, 112 Misc.2d 336, 342-343, 446 N.Y.S.2d 1015, affd. on other grds., 90 A.D.2d 994, 456 N.Y.S.2d 909; cf. Order Minor Conventuals v. Lee, 64 A.D.2d 227, 231, 409 N.Y.S.2d 667). The Town Code defines an accessory use or structure as ......
  • Lutherans Outdoors in South Dakota, Inc. v. South Dakota State Bd. of Equalization, s. 17045
    • United States
    • South Dakota Supreme Court
    • October 2, 1991
    ...terms. See, e.g., Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y. v. Buczkowski, 112 Misc.2d 336, 446 N.Y.S.2d 1015, 1019 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.), aff'd, 90 A.D.2d 994, 456 N.Y.S.2d 909 (1982). However, that is not the law in South Dakota. In 1986, when SDCL ch. 10-4 was being revised, our legislature considered a signific......

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